From sexual attraction to maternal aggression: When pheromones change their behavioural significance, Hormones and Behavior (2014), doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2014 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT2 AbstractThis paper reviews the role of chemosignals in the socio-sexual interactions of female mice, and reports two experiments testing the role of pup-derived chemosignals and the male sexual pheromone darcin in inducing and promoting maternal aggression. Female mice are attracted to urine-borne male pheromones. Volatile and non-volatile urine fractions have been proposed to contain olfactory and vomeronasal pheromones. In particular, the male-specific major urinary protein (MUP) MUP20, darcin, has been shown to be rewarding and attractive to females. Non-urinary male chemosignals, such as the lacrimal protein ESP1, promote lordosis in female mice, but its attractive properties are still to be tested. There is evidence indicating that ESP1 and MUPs are detected by vomeronasal type 2 receptors (V2R).When a female mouse becomes pregnant, she undergoes dramatic changes in her physiology and behaviour. She builds a nest for her pups and takes care of them. Dams also defend the nest against conspecific intruders, attacking especially gonadally intact males. Maternal behaviour is dependent on a functional olfactory system, thus suggesting a role of chemosignals in the development of maternal behaviour. Our first experiment demonstrates, however, that pup chemosignals are not sufficient to induce maternal aggression in virgin females. In addition, it is known that vomeronasal stimuli are needed for maternal aggression.Since MUPs (and other molecules) are able to promote intermale aggression, in our second experiment we test if the attractive MUP darcin also promotes attacks on castrated male intruders by lactating dams. Our findings demonstrate that the same chemosignal, darcin, promotes attraction or aggression according to female reproductive state.
Virgin adult female mice display nearly spontaneous maternal care towards foster pups after a short period of sensitization. This indicates that maternal care is triggered by sensory stimulation provided by the pups and that its onset is largely independent on the physiological events related to gestation, parturition and lactation. Conversely, the factors influencing maternal aggression are poorly understood. In this study, we sought to characterize two models of maternal sensitization in the outbred CD1 strain. To do so, a group of virgin females (godmothers) were exposed to continuous cohabitation with a lactating dam and their pups from the moment of parturition, whereas a second group (pup-sensitized females), were exposed 2 h daily to foster pups. Both groups were tested for maternal behavior on postnatal days 2–4. Godmothers expressed full maternal care from the first test. Also, they expressed higher levels of crouching than dams. Pup-sensitized females differed from dams in all measures of pup-directed behavior in the first test, and expressed full maternal care after two sessions of contact with pups. However, both protocols failed to induce maternal aggression toward a male intruder after full onset of pup-directed maternal behavior, even in the presence of pups. Our study confirms that adult female mice need a short sensitization period before the onset of maternal care. Further, it shows that pup-oriented and non-pup-oriented components of maternal behavior are under different physiological control. We conclude that the godmother model might be useful to study the physiological and neural bases of the maternal behavior repertoire.
Registro de acceso restringido Este recurso no está disponible en acceso abierto por política de la editorial. No obstante, se puede acceder al texto completo desde la Universitat Jaume I o si el usuario cuenta con suscripción. Registre d'accés restringit Aquest recurs no està disponible en accés obert per política de l'editorial. No obstant això, es pot accedir al text complet des de la Universitat Jaume I o si l'usuari compta amb subscripció. Restricted access item This item isn't open access because of publisher's policy. The full--text version is only available from Jaume I University or if the user has a running suscription to the publisher's contents.
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